
The main questions concerning market identification are provided in the opening quote of Rudyard Kipling-
who, buys what,where, how and why?Regarding the main questions, David Tonks mentioned that market 
can be identified by using a mix of variables which can be grouped into two categories: 'general' and 
'behaviour' (1995:3).Table1 shows the different types of 'general' and 'behavior' variables.The trem'general' 
is used for those variables which define and describe the customers but which do not identify in a direct way 
acts of purchase, acquistion or consumption.They thus answer the question 'who?.For instance, TV region is 
a general variable which may or may not be associated with some aspects of buying,owning, or 
consumption.
'Behaviour' variables answer the left question- what do people buy and where,when,how and why 
do they buy it?For instance,usage rate for a particular brand is a behaviour variable since it concerns a 
particular characteristic of consumption.
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Regarding that market can be identified by using a mix of variables,There are 3 keys to identify 
market:1)which behaviour variabless can be used 2)which general variables can be used 3)which mix of 
behaviour and general variables can be used.
1.Which behaviour variables can be used?
A first level scan of a market to identify suitable variables should create the form of a list to establish all 
significant possibilities.Im most cases,the following will be the most useful(David Tonks,1995). 
1)Benefit sought:
-What particular benefits or needs do they expext from the product?
2)Perception and attitudes:
How is the product perceived and what are the attidudes towards the product?
3)Product preferences:
What do they prefer and how do they choose between brands?
4)Product usage/purchase rates:
Are they non-users, medium users, heavy users?
Are they solus users in that they only buy one brand?
5)User/buyer status:
Are they current users, former users, non-users, potential users, regular users, first time users?
Are the buyers of interest as well as the users?
6)Loyalty status:
What degree of brand loyalty do they display?Is it strong,medium,weak?
7)Marketing factor sensitivity?
How do they resond to the various marketing influences?
Are they susceptibly to price or to advertising?
8)Purchase situation and occasion:
Is it an impulse or considered purchase?Is the context social or business?What is the setting for the 
purchase?
9)Media habits:
What media are they exposed to?
The last category,Media habits,is a behaviour varible which is not,At least not directly, relevant to the 
product in question.It is this category which provides an important link with the general variables.
From this list, a target segment for men 's aftershave lotion might be identified as potential low brand 
invovlement and loyalty, who buy on impulse, who are price sensitive and who read particular specialist 
magazines.May permutations are possible and at this stage, the choice can be considerable.For a broad 
understanding of the market and its component parts, benefit sought, purchase and usage patterns and brand 
loyalty will be important.
Which general variables can be used?
These variables are very improtant to trraget market.Again,there is a mix of measures.In 
most cases,we usually categorize these measures by objective of them.
Geographical region
It is very common in marketing to use geographical region to identify market.TV regions 
have the specific advantage of allowing relatively easy and perhapscheap access to 
desired target audience.Furthermore,some buying behaviour is strongly relevant to region.
Of some interesting,as for multinational brands or global brands,target market is 
identified crossing geographical boundaries.
Demographics
Demographics contains the familiar variables of age,sex,social grade,family size,family 
life cycle, income, occupation, terminal education age, religion, race and 
nationality.Generally,All these variables have advantages with geographical 
area.First,they are quite easy to measure compared with some other variable 
types.Second,they are easy to understand.Third,they are well established.However,the 
issue extent to which they can discriminate buying behaviour in some way which is useful 
to the organization implementing a policy of target marketing.For instance,if the concern 
is with differtiating between users and non-users of men's aftershave lotion then taking a 
demographic such as age will be of little value if the age profiles of users and non-users 
are identical.
Particularly,family life cycle and social grade are significant ganeral descriptive variables.
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While age merely will often discriminate buying behaviour,the existence of 
children in a family unit will be a prime determinant of lifestyle and later buying 
behaviour.Table 2 shows a typical transformation of the population into conventional life-
cycle segments.With this classification, the 'young, post-family'segment could be 
interesting to many organization since it contains high income.
In the UK,social grade is very often approached as a way pf classifying consumer 
markets.Social grade is based on the occupation of the head of houshold.The 
classification is given in table3
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However,there has been argument about the value of social gradeas method of 
identifying consumer market.David Tonks(1995:502) mentioned tat some scholars have 
suggested tha the method conceals rather than ot reveals and particularly that the implicit 
assumption between social grade and income is frequently incorrect.For example,in the 
case of a coal miner (Group D) and a vicar (Group A or B).The groups are very large so 
that the popular combination of C1/C2 contains 54 percet of the adult poplulation.What 
may also be a consideration is that while social grade,as a crude and instant general 
descriptor variable,is probably as good and as bad as it always has been,marketing people 
are now attracted to more sophisticated and more powerful systems for identifying 
markets.
Geodemographics
The techniques and the usage of this method have emerged over last 15 years.In some 
areas, the usage is very popular.It is dramatically developed as a result of dissatisfaction 
in other methods and cheaper operating cost .
One common feature of geographic method is that they are entirely based on 
approaches where a large number of general variables are employed.Regarding the 
complex and various nature of consumer behaviour, it is obvious that identifying market 
considering only one factor tends to be inappropriate.With geodemographics,segments 
are identified accirding to pros and cons with a wide range of variables.Most of systems 
include at least some data on demographics and household formation variables taken 
from the census.Some systems also regard further data such as financial information.
The most well-known of the geo-demographic brands are ACORN,MOSAIC,PIN 
and Super Profiles.IN te case of MOSAIC,58 types are identified using data from 
census,the electoral regoster and other resources on demographics, housing type and 
financial characteristics.
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The 58 MOSAIC 'types' are summarized into one of ten lifestyle groups and theres 
are shown in TABLE4.As probably be expected,the profile for Morecambe is very 
'irregular' with an index of 646 for the lifestyle grop 'properous pensioners',meaing that 
the proportion of peole in this group is more than six times he average for Great 
Britain.MOSAIC type M1 is described as 'High status retirement areas with many single 
prsoners' and thsi is grouped with three other types to give the MOSAIC lifestuyle group 
'prosperous pensioners' which receives the not surprising thumbail description 'where 
wealthy retired people gather together,normally by the seaside'.
the significant advantage of geodemographic systems such as MOSAIC is that the market segnebts that result 
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